Particle Quilt

Particle Quilt

An image of Kate Findlay's quilt inspired by the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the LHC.
Image Credits: Kate Findlay/Symmetry Magazine

The Compact Muon Solenoid detects the particle debris left over when the LHC smashes protons together at close to the speed of light. Despite the violent collisions happening at CMS, one artist was inspired to derive comfort from this physics experiment.

Artist Kate Findlay has created a variety of quilts inspired by the experiments happening at the LHC, including the CMS quilt seen above. At roughly 15 square feet, Findlay's quilts are typically much smaller than their experiment counterparts. Nonetheless, creating these intricate designs requires a careful, detailed approach.

Symmetry magazine has a detailed feature on Findlay's work, including images of her other quilts.

More Information:

Popular Science Q&A with Kate Findlay

Findlay's full Hadron Collider collection of quilts